832 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ANN. 31 



It is said thai the earth is square, the corners pointing to the four points of the 

 compass. At the north end is a hole through which the sea rushes down during ebb 

 tide, while it returns during flood tide Tl 5.320. The TslEtsla'ut describe a rock 

 in the middle of the sea, which is covered by a lid which is opened twice a day. When 

 it is opened, the waters rush down, and there is a whirlpool. A chief who drifts out 

 to this rock saves himself by tying his canoe to an overhanging tree Tsts 259. 



The Comox tell of the navel of the ocean, an enormous whirlpool in which the fire- 

 drill used to be at the beginning of the world Co 5.80. 



The incident of the feeding of the self-moving canoe occurs in 

 many other connections. Among the Tsimshian it is almost always 

 a canoe with the head of the monster Was (see p. 465), while among 

 other northern tribes it is often a grizzly-bear canoe (Tl 255) or a 

 canoe propelled by its decoration. 



One of six brothers is helped by a mountain being to become a great hunter. He 

 is sent home in a grizzly-bear canoe, the load of which is to be used for feeding the 

 canoe, Y\"hen the canoe is hungry, it looks back. When it is taken ashore, it is 

 transformed into stone. Wherever the canoe turns to be fed, the river has a turn 

 Tl 359. 



The Lillooet tell of a self-moving canoe with an eagle's head at the stem, another 

 at the stern. These had to be fed Lil 321. 



A canoe that appears first like a log, paddles by means of its 

 carved bow, and is fed, is mentioned in Sk 244. The Jellyfish's 

 canoe is described as being pulled along with great swiftness by its 

 tentacles (Sk 256) . 



The canoe that bites and kills grizzly bears occurs in the story of 

 GunaxnesEmg-ad Ts 1.159. Among the southern tribes the place of 

 the eating canoe is taken by the self-moving canoe (Ne 9.279), which 

 sometimes has the form of a double-headed serpent (H 5.23S, Ne 5. 184, 

 Ne 5.175, K 5.167; K 5.135). It is also called "Haven's Folding 

 Canoe" (K 5.167). 



40. The Story of Asdi'lda and Omen (p. 260) 



(4 versions: Ts 260; Kai 5.310; Sk 316; 1 Sk Swanton 2.92) 

 This story is the tradition of the Haida Eagle family, one branch 

 of which settled among the Tsimshian. For this reason I begin the 

 summary with the Haida versions. 



Ten youths go fishing salmon . One of them is left to watch the canoe. When look- 

 ins down, his cormorant hat drops into the water. He strikes the water and scolds it. 

 The men make a fire. A large frog approaches. They throw it away. When it 

 comes back, they throw it into the fire. It becomes red-hot, and finally bursts and 

 scatters the fire. The same happens four times. When going back, they see a red 

 person — the frog which they had thrown into the fire — who predicts that they will all 

 die, and that the last one will tell their story. They die when passing various points 

 of land. On the following day the reflection of a fire is seen on the mountains. The 

 people scold the frog. On the sixth day fire is seen over the water, and the town is 

 burned. A girl is hidden in a cellar, and remains unharmed. The frog appears 

 in the shape of an old woman wearing an enormous hat painted with frogs, and sings 

 a mourning-song. She moves her finger around and takes the scent of the girl whom 

 she calls forth. This version is a fragment. It is merely told that the girl meets two 

 men swimming in a pond. One of these is the White Goose, who takes the girl up 

 into the sky Kai 5.310. 



1 A Masset version. 



